This is the final volume of David Baldacci’s very entertaining Camel Club series of novels. As with each of the previous instalments, it picks up well straight after the conclusion of the previous book.

Oliver Stone has been cleared of charges pending from his previous escapades, and is effectively recruited back into government service, at the behest and direct command of no lesser a personage than the President. An operation has arisen that requires his own p
particular brand of skills, and no one else seems even vaguely suitable.

However, before he can commence his preparations, he is overtaken by events in the most direct manner when a bomb is detonated in Lafayette park, across the road from the White House. As it happens, Stone is on hand and sees the explosion and its immediate aftermath. Once again, he finds himself plunged into a frantic investigation in which the multiple agencies of the American intelligence and security community seem to be vying with each other. On this occasion he also finds himself working alongside an officer from Britain’s MI6. She is almost as resourceful and capable as Stone himself. I did occasionally feel, however, that the efforts to emphasise her Britishness made her sound like a modern day rendering of Dick van Dyke’s cockney chimney sweep. She didn’t actually say, ‘Cor blimey, guvnor, strike a light’, but she came quite close.

Until I came across David Baldacci’s books more or less by chance earlier this year, it had been a long time since I had made a habit of reading this sort of thriller. I am glad I rediscovered how much fun they can offer. Baldacci has a habit of pitching his readers immediately into the action, and however outlandish the story might be, he makes suspension of disbelief very easy. ( )

Awesome! ( )

Hell's Corner is a book about trust, attempted assassinations of world leaders, nanobots, guns, super agents, Triple Cross, friendship, etc. The book keeps its feeling from beginning to end. Four stars were awarded to this book for a really good thriller. ( )

First edition as new

Synopsis: 'John Carr, aka Oliver Stone - once the most skilled assassins his country ever had - stands in Lafayette Park in front of the White House, perhaps for the last time. The president has personally requested that Stone serve his country again on a high-risk, covert mission. Though he's fought for decades to leave his past career behind, Stone has no choice but to say yes.
Then Stone's mission changes drastic ally before it even begins. It's the night of a state dinner honoring the British prime minister. As he watches the prime minister's motorcade leaves the White House that evening, a bomb is detonated in Lafayette Park, an apparent terrorist attack against both leaders. It's in the chaotic aftermath that Stone takes on a new, more urgent assignment: find those responsible for the bombing.
British MI6 agent Mary Chapman becomes Stone's partner in the search for the unknown attackers. But their opponents are elusive, capable, and increasingly lethal; worst of all, it seems that the park bombing may just have been the opening salvo in their plan. With nowhere else to turn, Stone enlists the help of the only people he knows he can trust: the Camel Club. Yet that may be a big mistake.
In the shadowy worlds of politics and intelligence, there is no one you can really trust. Nothing is really what it seems to be. And Hell's Corner truly lives up to its name. This may be Oliver Stone's and the Camel Club's last stand.'
Review: It seemed to take a long time for the good guys to figure out 'who done it'. Would like to see a book with Mary Chapman as the main character. ( )